Former Southeast Missourian journalists create podcast on Lawless murder, Kezer exoneration

Bob Miller, former editor of the Southeast Missourian, announced a serial podcast and website that digs deep to uncover the details of the 1992 Benton, Missouri, unsolved murder case of Angela Mischelle Lawless.

Tyler Graef

Miller launched a trailer for the new podcast, titled "The Lawless Files," today — the 29th anniversary of the murder. The first full episode will launch Nov. 15.

Miller and co-producer Tyler Graef, also a former Southeast Missourian journalist, take an up-close look into the original murder investigation and the "many developments that transpired in the subsequent 29 years — none of which have thus far led to a successful conviction," according to a Lawless Files podcast news release.

Lawless was murdered around 1 a.m. Nov. 8, 1992, in Benton on the exit ramp of Interstate 55, according to the release. Josh Kezer, 18 at the time, was sentenced for the crime in June 1994 despite there being no physical evidence tying him to the crime. He served nearly 16 years in prison before being exonerated in 2009 after receiving an "actual innocence" ruling.

The podcast and website content build upon an investigation Miller and former colleague Mark Bliss wrote for the Southeast Missourian in 2018.

"I believe this case is solvable, but public pressure will be necessary to push the case in the right direction," Miller said in the release. "I believe when people hear the facts of this case, and the new information, that they'll be inspired to make their voices heard. Simply put, the Scott County Sheriff's Office needs to hand this case over to another jurisdiction."

Over the course of his investigation, Miller received some "disturbing tips" leading to "serious questions about how the initial investigation was conducted," according to the release, and made Miller doubt Kezer's wrongful conviction was a mistake.

Miller spent 24 years serving in various roles in journalism, including editor of the Southeast Missourian for 12 years. During that time, he led a newsroom that twice won Missouri's top award for best investigative journalism for coverage of the Lawless case, as well as the exoneration of David Robinson of Sikeston, Missouri, for the 2000 murder of Sheila Box.

According to the release, Miller also plans to publish a book on the Lawless murder in the coming months.

The first full episode of the podcast will be available to the public Nov. 15; subscribers to the Lawless files website, www.thelawlessfiles.com, can begin accessing subsequent episodes immediately, in addition to blogs, newsletters, special bonus podcast episodes and more.